“But why not?”
I was caught off guard. I looked up to see two eyes brimming with tears.
This was not what I was expecting.
“What’s wrong sweetheart?”
I had just shown my four-year old a photo sent to me from Cliff- of a beautiful rainbow behind the nature reserve near our home.
She sniffed quietly, “I want to see a rainbow too.”
I examined her face closely. This, was not so much a petulant demand, as much as it was a genuine ache to catch a glimpse of something divine. We looked out the window, but it was gone.
“Hey sweetheart, how about you pray that God’ll show you a rainbow sometime?” In between sniffles, she whispered, “Dear God, I pray I’ll see a rainbow soon. Amen.”
I watched her little face. My heart ached knowing it could be a long time away. I wondered if it might be wrong to encourage these sort of prayers. But I encouraged it anyway.
That evening, as the day closed, I brought my two littles to the playground when my hair stood on end.
There before us, was a little multicolored half-arc behind a row of houses. Because the playground was wet, no one else was around. There it was – for our eyes only.
“Sarah-Faith!” I cried, “God answered your prayer!”
I stood in amazement, as our two-year old Esther-Praise grasped the awe of the moment too. We ran up a hilly slope to catch a closer look, only to find the arc disappearing.
“Oh no…”
Two little faces, crestfallen, looked into the sky.
This time, it was Sarah-Faith who prayed on her own, “Dear God, I wish you could keep the rainbow longer!”
“All gone,” my little two-year old chimed in an odd sing-song way, showing off her two new words.
I smiled faintly, my heart warmed by the heart of our Father, whom I am convinced listens to the whimsical prayers of our hearts at times- not because they are groundbreaking, but because they matter to Him. Because He wants us to know explicitly, how much WE matter to him.
We tumbled down the slope, on our way home when this time it was my two-year old this time who shouted, “RAINBOW!”
There before us, on the other side of the field, lay another bigger, beautiful arc which took forever to fade. As we looked around, no one else seemed to have noticed this bizarre phenomenon.
It was just us, who caught two different rainbows within minutes of each other- one for each of these precious ones.
Was it too uncanny to be coincidence?
I scooped them both in my arms, admiring the arc when I said, “If you ever doubt one day if God is real, remember this day sweethearts. Remember this day.”
God presented each of the two rainbows with such clarity and ease- to each of their little hearts.
Under the evening twilight of the glowing skies, we sat and hugged by the pavement. Such is the love of our Father.
“But Jesus called them unto him, and said, Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not: for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, Whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall in no wise enter therein.”
– Matthew 19:14
